Systems, apparatus and methods facilitating data buffering and removal

ABSTRACT

Techniques for mitigating transmission of stale data from an implantable device are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes monitoring one or more data items stored in a data management queue prior to submission to a packet transmission queue for transmission as packets on a communication network to one or more other devices. The method also includes discarding a data item from the data management queue based on a determination that the data item has an expected arrival time to another device that is after a latest acceptable arrival time associated with the data item. The method also includes estimating a size of the packet transmission queue, and transmitting another data item from the data management queue to the packet transmission queue based on a determination that the size of the packet transmission queue has a defined relationship to the threshold size.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/004,560, filed Jan. 22, 2016, the entire content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to implantable devices and, moreparticularly, to systems, apparatus, methods and computer-readablestorage media facilitating data buffering and removal in implantabledevices.

BACKGROUND

Contemporary healthcare relies heavily on implantable medical devices(IMDs) to help patients lead normal and healthy lives. For example, IMDssuch as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs),cardiac re-synchronization therapy (CRT) devices, drug delivery systems,and neurostimulators can help manage a broad range of ailments, such ascardiac arrhythmia, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. Modern IMDs areentrusted with important tasks such as measuring and collecting dataabout vital signs and facilitating the provisioning of the collecteddata to devices utilized by doctors and nurses. Accordingly, telemetryhas an important role in accomplishing these important tasks. However,the collected data can be time-sensitive and, therefore, systems,apparatus, methods and computer-readable storage media that facilitatedata buffering and removal of stale data prior to transmission aredesired.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary to provide a basicunderstanding of one or more embodiments described herein. This summaryis not an extensive overview of the embodiments envisaged herein. It isintended to neither identify key or critical elements of the embodimentsnor delineate any scope of embodiments or the claims. Its sole purposeis to present some concepts of the embodiments in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. Itwill also be appreciated that the detailed description can includeadditional or alternative embodiments beyond those described in theSummary section.

Embodiments described herein include systems, apparatus, methods andcomputer-readable storage media facilitating mitigation of transmissionof stale data from an implantable device. In some embodiments, theimplantable device is or includes an IMD. In other embodiments, theimplantable device is or includes a device configured to interact withthe IMD. In these embodiments, both the implantable device and the IMDcan be implanted within and/or disposed on a patient. In variousembodiments, the patient can be any living being (e.g., a human, ananimal).

In an embodiment, an implantable device is provided that includes: amemory that stores executable components; and a processor that executesthe executable components stored in the memory. The executablecomponents include a communication component configured to transmit oneor more packets on a communication network, a packet transmission queueconfigured to store the one or more packets for transmission on thecommunication network, and a data management queue configured to storeone or more data items for submission to the packet transmission queueto one or more other devices. The executable components also include adata removal component configured to remove a data item of the one ormore data items from the data management queue, wherein removal is basedon a determination that the data item in the data management queue hasan expected arrival time to another device of the one or more otherdevices that exceeds a latest arrival time associated with the dataitem.

In some embodiments, the implantable device also includes a dataforwarding component configured to determine a size of the packettransmission queue, and in response to the size of the packettransmission queue being within a threshold size, forward another dataitem from the data management queue to the packet transmission queue.

In some embodiments, the implantable device also includes a deadlinecomponent configured to determine the deadline for the data item basedon a characteristic associated with the implantable device, acharacteristic associated with the other device, a type of data of thedata item, or a status of the implantable device.

In another embodiment, a method includes providing, by an implantabledevice including a processor, one or more data items in a datamanagement queue for buffering prior to submission to a packettransmission queue for transmission as one or more packets on acommunication network to one or more other devices. The method alsoincludes removing a data item from the data management queue based on adetermination that the data item of the one or more data items in thedata management queue has an expected arrival time to another device ofthe one or more other devices that is after a defined maximum acceptablearrival time associated with the data item.

In some embodiments, the method includes estimating the expected arrivaltime of the data item to the other device based on an expectedtransmission time per packet in the packet transmission queue.

In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumis provided. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storesexecutable instructions that, in response to execution, cause animplantable device including a processor to perform operations. Theoperations include monitoring one or more data items stored in a datamanagement queue prior to submission of the one or more data items to apacket transmission queue for transmission as one or more packets on acommunication network to one or more other devices. The operations alsoinclude discarding a data item of the one or more data items from thedata management queue, wherein the discarding is associated with adetermination that the data item has an expected arrival time to anotherdevice of the one or more other devices that is after a defined latestarrival time for the data item.

In some embodiments, the operations also include reducing a rate oftransferring the one or more data items to the data management queuebased on a determination that a size of the data management queueexceeds a threshold queue size.

In another embodiment, a system is provided. The system includes asensor and an implantable device. The implantable device includes adetection component configured to detect a signal from the sensor andsupply a data item of one or more data items and corresponding to thesignal to a data management queue for transmission to another device.The implantable device also includes a data removal component configuredto discard the data item from the data management queue based on adetermination that the data item in the data management queue isestimated to arrive at the other device after an acceptable latestarrival time associated with the data item.

In some embodiments, the implantable device also includes a throttlingcomponent configured to reduce a sampling rate of the signal to reduce anumber of the one or more data items to be supplied to the datamanagement queue.

In some embodiments, the system also includes the other device. Theother device can include a mobile device in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the system also includes a server device configured toreceive the data item, or information about the data item, from theother device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example, non-limitingmedical device telemetry system facilitating management of transmissionof data from an implantable device to an external device in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission of datafrom an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission of datafrom an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data employing a data management queue inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission of datafrom an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data employing a data management queue withassigned deadlines for data in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission of datafrom an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data using a data management queue with assigneddeadlines and priorities for data in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission ofwaveform data and marker data from an implantable device to an externaldevice to mitigate transmission of stale data using a data managementqueue in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission ofmarker data and waveform data including channel data from an implantabledevice to an external device to mitigate transmission of stale dataemploying a data management queue in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission ofmarker data from an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data employing a data management queue inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating monitoring a packet transmission queue to mitigatetransmission of stale data in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating removing stale data from a data management queue by animplantable device to mitigate transmission of stale data in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating assigning deadlines to data for transmission by animplantable device to mitigate transmission of stale data in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating assignment of priorities to data for transmission by animplantable device to mitigate transmission of stale data in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating determining estimated arrival times for data in a datamanagement queue by an implantable device to mitigate transmission ofstale data in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limiting method offacilitating throttling data for transmission by an implantable deviceto mitigate transmission of stale data in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaltelemetry system facilitating management of transmission of data by animplantable device to a first external device and a second externaldevice to mitigate transmission of stale data in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limitingimplantable device configured to mitigate transmission of stale data inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting externaldevice in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a computer operable to facilitatetelemetry with or via an implantable device to mitigate transmission ofstale data in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely illustrative and is notintended to limit embodiments and/or application or uses of embodiments.Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed orimplied information presented in the preceding Technical Field,Background or Summary sections, or in the Detailed Description section.

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like referenced numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a morethorough understanding of the one or more embodiments. It is evident,however, in various cases, that the one or more embodiments can bepracticed without these specific details.

Additionally, the following description refers to components being“connected” and/or “coupled” to one another. As used herein, unlessexpressly stated otherwise, the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” meanthat one component is directly or indirectly connected to anothercomponent, mechanically, electrically, wirelessly, inductively orotherwise. Thus, although the figures can depict example arrangements ofcomponents, additional and/or intervening components can be present inone or more embodiments.

Further, while embodiments described herein variously reference animplantable device or an IMD as implanted or located within a patient ora body or worn by a patient or a body, it is noted and should beunderstood that in any of these embodiments, the implantable device orthe IMD referenced can be implanted or located within the patient orbody and/or coupled to or disposed on an exterior surface of the patientor body as appropriate relative to the specific embodiments. All suchvariations are envisaged and intended to be encompassed herein.

Some examples herein are described using BLUETOOTH® Low Energy (BLE)protocol for communication between external device 116 and implantabledevice 104 for illustrative purposes. However, any suitablecommunication protocol for communication between external device 116 andimplantable device 104 is intended to be encompassed herein, examples ofwhich are discussed below.

With reference now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a schematicdiagram of an example, non-limiting medical device telemetry system 100facilitating management of transmission of data from an implantabledevice to an external device in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. System 100 includes implantable device 104, which canbe configured to mitigate transmission of stale data (e.g., one or moredata items). In the embodiment shown, medical device telemetry system100 includes implantable device 104 implanted within a body 102, and anexternal device 116. In some embodiments, the implantable device 104 isan IMD that is also configured to facilitate one or more diagnostic ortreatment functions relative to the body 102. In some embodiments, theimplantable device 104 is separate from an IMD (not shown in thisembodiment) that is also implanted within the body 102 andcommunicatively and/or electrically coupled to the IMD.

Examples of devices, apparatus and systems herein can include one ormore computer-executable components embodied within one or more machines(e.g., embodied in one or more computer-readable storage mediaassociated with one or more machines). Such components, when executed bythe one or more machines (e.g., processors, computers, computingdevices, virtual machines, etc.) can cause the one or more machines toperform the operations described. Implantable device 104 can includememory (not shown) that stores computer-executable components andinstructions. Implantable device 104 can also include a processor (notshown) configured to facilitate operation of the instructions (e.g.,computer-executable components and instructions) by implantable device104.

One or more embodiments of medical device telemetry system 100 aredescribed in connection with managing transmission of stale data byimplantable device 104 in association with performing telemetrycommunication with one or more external devices, such as external device116. In particular, implantable devices can use wireless telemetry toexchange various types of information with external devices. Forexample, using wireless telemetry, an external device 116 can read datacaptured by the implantable device 104 (e.g., electrocardiogram data) orsend configuration information to the implantable device 104. Theimplantable device 104 can also transmit sensed physiological data,diagnostic data determined based on the sensed physiological data,and/or implantable device 104 performance data to the external device116. Data associated with the implantable device 104 can be provided toa wide variety of external devices, including, but not limited to, amobile device (e.g., tablet computer, smartphone) associated with apatient or a physician, a medical device associated with a patient or aphysician, an electronic device at a home of a patient or at an officeof a physician, an off-the-shelf device purchased at a store, etc.

In various embodiments, the implantable device 104 and/or the externaldevice 116 can communicate employing proprietary and/or commerciallyavailable public communication protocols. By way of example, but notlimitation, the communication protocols can include, but are not limitedto, BLUETOOTH®, BLUETOOTH® low energy (BLE), near field communication(NFC), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) protocol, Zigbee®, RF4CE, WirelessHART,6LoWPAN, Z-Wave, ANT, and the like.

As commercially available communication protocols are more frequentlyemployed to conduct telemetry with an implantable device 104, datatransmission from implantable device 104 to external device 116 can bedelayed resulting in transmission of stale data (e.g., data that arrivesat external device 116 after a particular deadline). As a result,implantable device 104 and external device 116 can waste resourcestransmitting and receiving stale data that may be unable to be used byexternal device 116 and therefore discarded by external device 116.

For example, according to various commercially available communicationprotocols (e.g., BLE) to begin a telemetry session with implantabledevice 104, external device 116 can send a connection request to theimplantable device 104 requesting to establish a telemetry session. Uponreception of the connection request by the implantable device 104, aninitial telemetry connection can be established between the implantabledevice 104 and the external device 116. For example, the implantabledevice 104 and the external device 116 can begin a pairing process thatis used to establish a secure or trusted telemetry session between theimplantable device 104 and the external device 116.

Implantable device 104 can then transmit sensed physiological data,diagnostic determinations made based on the sensed physiological data,and/or other data. Some of the data can be captured at body 102 byimplantable device 104 and transmitted to external device 116. In someembodiments, to transmit the data, a device configured to transmit overa communication layer (e.g., BLE link layer) in implantable device 104can place the packets in a packet transmission queue (e.g., BLE linklayer queue) of the implantable device 104. Some communication protocols(e.g., BLE) will continue to try to re-transmit a packet until thepacket is successfully transmitted to external device 116. This processof attempting re-transmissions can cause other packets in the packettransmission queue to be delayed, potentially beyond a timeframe inwhich the data within the packets are useful to external device 116. Forexample, real-time waveform data from a cardiac implantable medicaldevice can have a deadline set at a defined amount of time (e.g., 300milliseconds (ms)) for arrival at the external device. If the waveformdata arrives at external device 116 after 300 ms from when the waveformdata was generated based on the sensed characteristic of the body 102,external device 116 can discard (e.g., ignore, not process, flush, ordelete) the waveform data as being stale.

In accordance with various embodiments, system 100 provides techniquesfor managing transmission of data by implantable device 104 to minimizeor prevent the transmission of stale data to external device 116 asdiscussed below.

In an embodiment, following reception, by implantable device 104, of aconnection request from an external device 116, implantable device 104can establish a secured telemetry connection with the external device116.

Implantable device 104 can be configured to initiate transmission ofsensed and/or stored data to external device 116. In variousembodiments, the implantable device 104 can initiate the transmission ofthe data automatically upon detecting or sensing the data or generatingthe waveform data and/or in response to a request by external device116.

As used herein, the term “data” can refer to any type of data (e.g., ECGdata, ICD data, previously stored data, data generated within a definedamount of time prior to transmission, real-time data, non-real-timedata) in any number of different formats (e.g., waveform data, discretesignals) and whether the data has time constraints that call fordelivery and/or external device 116 reception within a defined amount oftime (e.g., real-time data) or data with no time constraints on deliveryor reception. All such embodiments are envisaged. By way of example, butnot limitation, in different embodiments, the data can be, but is notlimited to, data sensed in response to the request, data having adeadline for transmission to (or receipt by) external device 116, datacontinually sensed and having a deadline for transmission to externaldevice 116, or data that is transmitted after being sensed. Furthermore,data can include stored interrogation data, such as, in a non-limitingexample, patient name, patient identifier, patient medical history,patient emergency contact information, device parameters, stored senseddata, or any other suitable data that can be stored in the implantabledevice 104. In order to minimize or prevent the transmission of data toexternal device 116 beyond a deadline assigned to the data, implantabledevice 104 can employ a data management queue coupled to the packettransmission queue. Implantable device 104 can monitor a size of thepacket transmission queue and forward data from the data managementqueue to the packet transmission queue if the size of the packettransmission queue is within a threshold size.

In some embodiments, implantable device 104 can monitor the datamanagement queue to identify data that is estimated to arrive atexternal device 116 beyond a deadline assigned to the data (i.e. staledata), and discard the stale data (to avoid or reduce the use ofimplantable device 104 resources that would otherwise be employed forfurther processing and/or transmission of the stale data). In someembodiments, implantable device 104 can assign different deadlines todifferent types of data based upon the type of data (e.g., ECG, pulseoximeter, glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, neuraldata), the type of implantable device 104, the type of body 102 in whichthe implantable device is implanted, the type of external device 116, atype of environment in which external device 116 is located (e.g.,physician's office, home, emergency room, operating room, ambulance,hospital, or any other suitable location), a specification from externaldevice 116, or any other suitable criteria for assigning deadlines todata delivery.

In some embodiments, implantable device 104 can assign differentpriorities to different types of data based upon the type of data (e.g.,ECG, pulse oximeter, glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratoryrate, neural data, interrogation data, sensed data, stored data, or anyother suitable type of data), the type of implantable device 104, thetype of body in which the implantable device is implanted, the type ofexternal device 116, a type of environment in which external device 116is located (e.g., physician's office, home, emergency room, operatingroom, ambulance, hospital, or any other suitable location), aspecification from external device 116, or any other suitable criteriafor assigning priorities to data.

Implantable device 104 is configured to process information to makedeterminations regarding selection of data to forward from the datamanagement queue to the packet transmission queue based on a function ofdeadline and/or priority as is discussed in more detail with referenceto FIG. 3. Moreover, implantable device 104 can throttle (e.g., adjustsampling rate of data, adjust channels of data, or adjust types of data)to increase or decrease data being placed into the data management queueto minimize or prevent the transmission of stale data to external device116 as discussed in more detail below.

It is to be appreciated that the implantable device 104 can include oneor more devices, transducers and/or circuits that can facilitatetelemetry communication and disablement of telemetry communication. Forexample, the implantable device 104 can include a transmitter thattransforms electrical power into a signal associated with transmitteddata packets. Additionally, the implantable device 104 can include oneor more devices, transducers and/or circuits that can facilitatereceiving information from one or more devices (e.g., the externaldevice 116, a server device, etc.). For example, the implantable device104 can include a receiver that transforms a signal into electricalpower.

In the embodiment shown in medical device telemetry system 100, a useroperating the external device 116 is a patient in which the implantabledevice 104 is implanted. In another embodiment, another person (e.g.,such as medical caregiver) interacting with the patient in which theimplantable device 104 is implanted can operate the external device 116outside the body 102 in which the implantable device 104 is located.Implantable device 104 can include any number of different types ofimplantable devices configured to communicate with the external device116 or another external device. The particular, size, shape, placementand/or function of the implantable device 104 may not be critical to thesubject disclosure in some embodiments.

In an embodiment, implantable device 104 is or includes an IMD. Forexample, some example IMDs can include, but are not limited to, cardiacpacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, cardiac re-synchronization devices,cardiac monitoring devices, cardiac pressure monitoring devices, spinalstimulation devices, neural stimulation devices, gastric stimulationdevices, diabetes pumps, drug delivery devices, and/or any other medicaldevices. In various embodiments, however, implantable device 104 can beor include any number of other types of implantable devices that are notIMDs.

For exemplary purposes, implantable device 104 is illustrated in medicaldevice telemetry system 100 as an IMD implanted within the chest of abody 102 of a patient and configured to provide medical treatmentassociated with a heart disease or condition (e.g., an implantablecardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and/or a pacemaker). In addition to themedical treatment, implantable device 104 can also be configured toprovide the data packetizing and communication operations describedherein. Implantable device 104 includes a housing 106 within whichelectrical components and one or more power sources are housed. Theelectrical components can be powered via the one or more power sources.A power source (not shown) can include, but is not limited to, abattery, a capacitor, a charge pump, a mechanically derived power source(e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device), or an inductioncomponent. The various embodiments described herein can provide improvedmanagement of power associated with the one or more power sources, forexample, by mitigating resources spent on transmission of stale data.

The electrical components can vary depending on the particular featuresand functionality of implantable device 104. In various embodiments,these electrical components can include, but are not limited to, one ormore processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, transceivers,sensors, sensing circuitry, therapy circuitry, antennas and othercomponents. In some embodiments, the electrical components can be formedon or within a substrate that is placed inside the housing 106. Thehousing 106 can be formed from conductive materials, non-conductivematerials or a combination thereof. For example, housing 106 can includea conductive material, such as metal or metal alloy, a non-conductivematerial such as glass, plastic, ceramic, etc., or a combination ofconductive and non-conductive materials. In some embodiments, thehousing 106 can be a biocompatible housing (e.g., a liquid crystalpolymer, etc.).

In the embodiment shown, implantable device 104 is also an IMD andfurther includes leads 110 a and 110 b connected to the housing 106. Theleads 110 a and 110 b extend into the heart and respectively include oneor more electrodes. For example, as depicted in medical device telemetrysystem 100, leads 110 a and 110 b each include a respective tipelectrodes 112 a and 112 b and/or ring electrodes 114 a and 114 blocated near a distal end of their respective leads 110 a and 110 b.When implanted, tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b and/or ring electrodes114 a and 114 b are placed relative to or in a selected tissue, muscle,nerve or other location within the body 102 of the patient. As depictedin medical device telemetry system 100, tip electrodes 112 a and 112 bare extendable helically shaped electrodes to facilitate fixation of thedistal end of leads 110 a and 110 b to the target location within thebody 102 of the patient. In this manner, tip electrodes 112 a and 112 bare formed to define a fixation mechanism. In other embodiments, one orboth of tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b can be formed to define fixationmechanisms of other structures. In other instances, leads 110 a and 110b can include a fixation mechanism separate from tip electrodes 112 aand 112 b. Fixation mechanisms can be any appropriate type, including agrapple mechanism, a helical or screw mechanism, a drug-coatedconnection mechanism in which the drug serves to reduce infection and/orswelling of the tissue, or other attachment mechanism.

Leads 110 a and 110 b are connected at a proximal end of the implantabledevice 104 via connector block 108. Connector block 108 can include oneor more receptacles that interconnect with one or more connectorterminals located on the proximal end of leads 110 a and 110 b. Leads110 a and 110 b are ultimately electrically connected to one or more ofthe electrical components within housing 106. One or more conductors(not shown) extend within leads 110 a and 110 b from connector block 108along the length of the lead to engage the ring electrodes 114 a and 114b and tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b, respectively. In this manner, eachof tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b and ring electrodes 114 a and 114 b iselectrically coupled to a respective conductor within its associatedlead bodies. For example, a first electrical conductor can extend alongthe length of the body of lead 110 a from connector block 108 andelectrically couple to tip electrode 112 a and a second electricalconductor can extend along the length of the body of lead 110 a fromconnector block 108 and electrically couple to ring electrode 114 a. Therespective conductors can electrically couple to circuitry, such as atherapy module or a sensing module, of the implantable device 104 viaconnections in connector block 108.

In one or more embodiments, the implantable device 104 is configured todeliver therapy to the heart (or other location) via the electricalconductors to one or more of electrodes 112 a and 112 b and 114 a and114 b. In the case of pacing therapy, for example, therapy circuitrywithin the implantable device 104 can generate and deliver pacing pulsesvia a unipolar electrode configuration, e.g., using electrodes 112 a and112 b and a housing electrode of the implantable device 104. In otherinstances, the therapy circuitry within the implantable device 104 candeliver pacing pulses via a bipolar electrode configuration, e.g., usingelectrodes 112 a and 112 b and ring electrodes 114 a and 114 b. Thetherapy circuitry may include one or more pulse generators, capacitors,and/or other components capable of generating and/or storing energy todeliver as pacing therapy in accordance with a pacing regime storedwithin memory.

Implantable device 104 can also receive sensed electrical signals on theelectrical conductors from one or more of electrodes 112 a and 112 b and114 a and 114 b. The implantable device 104 can sense the electricalsignals using either a unipolar or bipolar electrode configuration.Sensing circuitry of the implantable device 104 may process the sensedelectrical signals and the implantable device 104 may analyze theprocessed and/or or sensed electrical signals and provide the pacing asa function of the sensed electrical signal. The sensing circuitry mayinclude one or more sense amplifiers, filters, rectifiers, thresholddetectors, comparators, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), or otheranalog or digital components.

The configuration, features and functionality of implantable device 104are merely provided as an example. In other embodiments, the implantabledevice 104 can include more or fewer leads extending from the housing106. For example, the implantable device 104 can be coupled to threeleads, e.g., a third lead implanted within a left ventricle of the heartof the patient. In another embodiment, the implantable device 104 can becoupled to a single lead that is implanted within the ventricle of theheart of the patient. In other embodiments, the lead can be anextravascular lead with the electrodes implanted subcutaneously abovethe ribcage/sternum or substernally underneath or below the sternum.Example extravascular ICDs having subcutaneous electrodes are describedin U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0214104 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,072,914) (Greenhut et al.) and U.S. Patent Publication No.2015/0133951 (Seifert et al.), each of which is incorporated herein inits entirety. One example extravascular ICD having substernal electrodesis described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0330327(Thompson-Nauman et al.). In some embodiments, the implantable device104 can include other leads (e.g., atrial lead and/or left ventricularlead). As such, implantable device 104 can be used for single chamber ormulti-chamber cardiac rhythm management therapy. In addition to more orfewer leads, each of the leads can include more or fewer electrodes. Ininstances in which the implantable device 104 is used for therapy otherthan pacing, (e.g., defibrillation or cardioversion), the leads caninclude elongated electrodes, which can, in some instances, take theform of a coil. The therapy circuitry of the implantable device 104 cangenerate and deliver defibrillation or cardioversion shocks to the heartvia any combination of the elongated electrodes and housing electrode.The therapy circuitry may include one or more HV output capacitors and aHV charging circuit, which may include one or more capacitors,resistors, inductors, transformers, switches, or other analog or digitalcomponents, and discharging circuitry to deliver cardioversion ordefibrillation therapy, including, for example, an H-bridge circuit. Inanother embodiment, the implantable device 104 can include leads with aplurality of ring electrodes, (e.g., as used in some implantableneurostimulators), without a tip electrode or with one of the ringelectrodes functioning as the “tip electrode.”

In another embodiment, the implantable device 104 can include no leads,as in the case of an intracardiac pacemaker or a leadless pressuresensor. In the case of an intracardiac pacemaker, the device can includea housing sized to fit wholly within the patient's heart. In oneembodiment, the housing can have a volume that is less than 1.5 cc and,more preferably, less than 1.0 cubic centimeter (cc). However, thehousing can be greater than or equal to 1.5 cc in other examples. Theintracardiac pacemaker includes at least two electrodes spaced apartalong the outer portion of the housing for sensing cardiac electrogramsignals and/or delivering pacing pulses. Example intracardiac pacemakersare described in commonly-assigned U.S. Patent Publication No.2012/0172690 (Anderson et al.), U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0172941(now U.S. Pat. No. 8,386,051) (Kenneth), and U.S. Patent Publication No.2014/0214104 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,072,914) (Greenhut et al.), each ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety. In the case of a leadlesspressure sensor, the device can include a housing having a fixationmember and a pressure sensing component. One example of a leadlesspressure sensor is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0108922(now U.S. Pat. No. 8,475,372) (Schell et al.), which is incorporatedherein in its entirety.

Implantable device 104 can include various different types of sensors,electrodes and/or circuitry configured to detect one or more signalsassociated with a physiological state within the body 102 of thepatient, motion of the body 102 of the patient, or sound or speechgenerated or detected within the body 102 of the patient. In someembodiments, the physiological state can include a function of the body102 and/or a condition of the body 102. These sensors, electrodes and/orcircuitry can include, but are not limited to, sensors, electrodesand/or circuitry configured to detect blood pressure, blood flow rate,heart rate, respiratory rate, blood composition, substances within theblood (e.g., oxygen, carbon dioxide or glucose), temperature, patientactivity state (e.g., moving, still, asleep, awake or exercising),speech and/or other physical properties associated with the patient. Asimplantable device 104 is illustrated in system 100, by way of example,these sensors and/or circuitry can be included within the housing 106and/or included on or in association with the various leads 110 a and110 b, tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b and ring electrodes 114 a and 114b of the implantable device 104. For example, in addition to tipelectrodes 112 a and 112 b and ring electrodes 114 a and 114 b,implantable device 104 can include one or more additional sensors (notshown) that include, but are not limited to, pressure sensors, bloodflow sensors, force sensors, blood composition sensors, optical sensors,accelerometers, piezoelectric sensors, biosensors, acoustic sensorsand/or other sensors configured to detect states and/or physicalactivity of the body 102.

A sensor as described herein can include hardware (e.g., sensor hardwarecomponents, sensor circuitry or a processor), software (e.g.,computer-executable instructions configured to facilitate processing ofsensed data), or a combination of hardware and software configured todetect (e.g., by sensing, detection or measurement) a property (e.g.,physiological property) associated with the body 102 in which theimplantable device 104 is located, and/or configured to record, indicateor otherwise respond to the detected property.

In an embodiment, implantable device 104 can include various differenttypes of sensors, and/or circuitry configured to detect informationassociated with the heart rhythm. The information detected can beprocessed in various embodiments. For example, the implantable device104 can include hardware, software, or a combination of hardware andsoftware, that is configured to measure electrical activity of theheart. An electrocardiogram (ECG) is an example of a device that can beemployed by the implantable device 104 to record the electrical activityof the heart over a defined period of time, as detected by one or moreelectrodes (e.g., tip electrodes 112 a and 112 b or ring electrodes 114a and 114 b) connected to one or more parts of the body 102 (e.g.,cardiac tissue inside the body 102, skin of the chest outside the body102 and/or near the heart). An ECG detects electrical impulses generatedby the polarization and depolarization of cardiac tissue and translatesthe impulses into a waveform that corresponds to the rate and regularityof beats of the heart.

In another embodiment, the implantable device 104 can include or beassociated with a device (e.g., pulse oximeter) that is configured todetect variation in blood oxygenation level that can be correlated topulse rate. A pulse oximeter can indirectly monitor the oxygensaturation of the blood in body 102 (as opposed to measuring oxygensaturation directly through a blood sample). The pulse oximeter canutilize the light absorptive characteristics of hemoglobin and thepulsating nature of blood flow through the body 102 to aid indetermining the oxygenation status in the body 102. First, there is acolor difference between arterial hemoglobin saturated with oxygen,which is bright red, and venous hemoglobin without oxygen, which is darkred. Second, with each pulsation or heartbeat there is generally aslight increase in the volume of blood flowing through the arteries.Because of the increase of blood volume, albeit small, there isgenerally an associated increase in oxygen-rich hemoglobin. A PPG can begenerated based on the amount of oxygen-rich hemoglobin pulsatingthrough the blood vessel volume.

In another embodiment, implantable device 104 can include atransmittance pulse oximeter. The transmittance pulse oximeter caninclude a photodetector, a light source, and a circuit that produces,collects, and processes photoplethysmographic signals. Implantabledevice 104 can activate the transmittance pulse oximeter to generate twowavelengths of light through a part of the body 102 and that is detectedby the photodetector. The photodetector can measure the changingabsorbance at each of the wavelengths in response to transmittance ofthe light wavelengths through the body 102. Based on the changes inabsorbance, the transmittance pulse oximeter can determine the pulserate of the patient.

In another embodiment, implantable device 104 can include a reflectancepulse oximeter to determine pulse rate of the body 102. The reflectancepulse oximeter can also include a photodetector, a light source, and acircuit that produces, collects, and processes PPG signals. With areflectance pulse oximeter, the incident light is passed through thebody and is reflected from the subcutaneous tissue and bone back to thephotodetector.

In one or more embodiments described herein, an external device 116 cancommunicate with the implantable device 104 to exchange data with theimplantable device 104. For example, the external device 116 can readdata captured by the implantable device 104 (e.g., electrocardiogram(ECG) data) and/or remotely control the implantable device 104 (e.g., toadjust sensing, pacing therapy and/or defibrillation therapy). In oneexample, the external device 116 can remotely control the implantabledevice 104 by programming the implantable device 104. The implantabledevice 104 can also transmit to external device 116 sensed physiologicaldata, diagnostic determinations made based on the sensed physiologicaldata, implantable device 104 performance data and/or implantable device104 integrity data.

External device 116 can include any suitable computing device configuredto communicate with implantable device 104. In some embodiments, theexternal device 116 can be a remote electronic device. For example,external device 116 can include, but is not limited to, a handheldcomputing device, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet personalcomputer (PC), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a server device, a monitor, a display, a scope, and/ora wearable device. In some embodiments, the external device 116 caninclude a display that can present information associated with theimplantable device 104. In another embodiment, the external device 116can include an application and/or a program associated with theimplantable device 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaldevice telemetry system facilitating management of transmission of datafrom an implantable device to an external device to mitigatetransmission of stale data in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. In some embodiments, the medical device telemetrysystem 200 can be configured to facilitate management of transmission ofdata (e.g., real-time generated data, non-real-time generated data orstored data) from an implantable device to an external device inaccordance with descriptions of system 100 described herein. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed figures described herein isomitted for sake of brevity.

Similar to system 100, system 200 includes external device 116 andimplantable device 104. Although not shown, it is to be appreciated thatthe implantable device 104 is implanted within or provided on a body ofa living being (e.g., body 102 of FIG. 1).

As depicted in system 200, implantable device 104 is configured toemploy detection component 202 to perform detecting of signal 222, suchas through various sensors. As discussed supra, in one or moreembodiments, signal 222 can include different information associatedwith a physiological state of a body with which the implantable device104 is associated. For example, signal 222 can represent raw data thatcan be correlated to a heart rate, ventilation rate and/or bloodpressure. This raw data can vary depending on the implementation ofsystem 200 and the detection component 202 employed by implantabledevice 104. For example, in embodiments in which detection component 202is configured to detect signals associated with heart rate using an ECGdevice, signal 222 can include information corresponding to electricalactivity of the heart.

In another embodiment, signal 222 can include raw motion data based onmotion of the body with which the implantable device 104 is associated.For example, signal 222 generated by the implantable device 104 can varyin response to movement of the body. Accordingly, signal 222 can includefirst motion data (e.g., velocity measurements, accelerationmeasurements or displacement measurements) corresponding to motion ofimplantable device 104 in response to movement of the body.

In some embodiments, signal 222 can include raw data that can begenerated based on a walking motion, a lying down motion (or position),a jumping motion, a spinning motion, a hand raising motion, etc, made bythe body in which the implantable device 104 is implanted. This raw datacan vary depending on the implementation of system 200 and/or thedetection component 202 employed by implantable device 104. For example,when detection component 202 is configured to detect motion signalsusing a piezoelectric device, signal 222 can include informationcorresponding to changes in pressure, acceleration, strain or forceexperienced by the implantable device 104.

In yet another embodiment, signal 222 can include raw data correspondingto a sound that is detected by detection component 202. In one example,the detected sound includes a voice sound made by the body in which theimplantable device 104 is implanted. In another embodiment, the detectedsound can include a sound made by another device, person, object, etc.Accordingly, the data of raw signal 222 can vary depending on theimplementation of system 200 and the detection component 202 employed byimplantable device 104.

In another embodiment, when detection component 202 is configured toemploy acoustic sensors, signal 222 can include sound waves received ordetected at implantable device 104 (e.g., through the body). In anotherembodiment, when the detected sound includes a voice sound made by thebody in which the implantable device 104 is implanted, signal 222 canalso include vibration data corresponding to vibration of the vocalcords during production of the sound.

It is to be appreciated that any suitable signal 222 detectable byimplantable device 104 is intended to be encompassed herein.Furthermore, implantable device 104 can be a multi-function devicecapable of detecting a variety of signals associated with differentareas and/or functions of the body as described herein. Additionally,detection component 202 can apply timestamps to data associated withsignals 222. Deadlines can be based on the timestamps. For example, ifdata has a timestamp TS, then the deadline can be an amount of timeadded to timestamp TS, or can be a specific time after timestamp TS, orcan be any other suitable mechanism for specifying a deadline inrelation to timestamp TS.

External device 116 and implantable device 104 can include communicationcomponents 220 and 218, respectively. In various embodiments,communication components 218 and 220 are configured to facilitatecommunication between external device 116 and implantable device 104.For example, communication components 218 and 220 can include or bevarious hardware and/or software devices or components associated withestablishing and/or conducting a telemetry session between externaldevice 116 and implantable device 104.

Communication components 218 and 220 can be configured to communicateusing various wireless communication protocols. For example,communication components 218 and 220 can include a transmitter and/orreceiver configured to transmit and/or receive electrical wireless orwired signals. In some embodiments, communication components 218 and 220can be configured to communicate using various wireless communicationprotocols including, but not limited to, near field communication (NFC),BLUETOOTH® technology, ZigBee®, radio frequency (RF) communications,SIP-based communications, cellular communication, an ultra-wideband(UWB) technology-based protocol, a radio frequency (RF)communication-based protocol, or other forms of communication includingboth proprietary and non-proprietary communication protocols.

External device 116 can transmit (e.g., using communication component220), a request message to the implantable device 104 requesting atelemetry session between the external device 116 and the implantabledevice 104. For example, this request message can be generated and sentin response to input received at the external device 116 requestingpairing between the implantable device 104 and the external device 116.It is to be appreciated that implantable device 104 can also initiatepairing or communication with external device 116 without receipt of therequest from the external device 116.

Communication component 220 can employ a particular frequency (e.g., anon-commercial frequency) to send the request message as an RF datasignal that is recognizable by the implantable device 104 as a requestto pair with the implantable device 104. In some embodiments, inresponse to transmission of the RF data signal by the external device116 and reception and identification of the RF data signal by theimplantable device 104 (e.g., via communication component 218),implantable device 104 and external device 116 can pair and establish atelemetry session.

In some embodiments, in response to transmission of the RF communicationsignal by the external device 116 and reception and identification ofthe RF data signal by the implantable device 104, the implantable device104 can send an acknowledgment message (e.g., using an RF data signal)back to the external device 116 acknowledging receipt of the request. Inresponse to sending the acknowledgment message, implantable device 104can activate detection component 202 to begin detecting signal 222 for adefined detection period (e.g., for one minute after sending theacknowledgment message or any other suitable period of time). Thedefined detection period can be determined by implantable device 104, orby external device 116 and communicated to implantable device 104.

After or during detecting of signal 222, implantable device 104 canemploy communication component 218 to communicate data to externaldevice 116 representative of signal 222. In one embodiment, for example,signal 222 can include data identifying voltage variations associatedwith electrical impulses in cardiac tissue. Signal 222 can includesimilar raw data or another form of raw data associated with a heartrhythm. Implantable device 104 can receive signal 222. In thisembodiment, a sensor can detect and/or generate the signal 222. In someembodiments, the signal 222 is not received by implantable device but isgenerated by implantable device 104 (based on detection with a sensorwithin implantable device 104, for example).

Detection component 202 can process raw data of signal 222 and packageand/or transform the data for transmission to external device 116. Forexample, signal 222 can include data from various leads to the heartassociated with ECG. Detection component 202 can transform signal 222into data for transmission to external device 116. In some embodiments,the data can be waveform and/or marker data. It is to be appreciatedthat detection component 202 can also detect signal 222 over time andstore all or a portion of the data associated with signal 222 fortransmission to external device 116 as historical data. In someembodiments, data that is historical data is non-real-time data. In someembodiments, detection component 202 can store information about one ormore events detected and indicated by signal 222. The information caninclude, but is not limited to, as abnormal readings (e.g., the casewhen signal 222 indicates an event that is not within a specifiedthreshold), samples of events (e.g., the samples can be taken at regularor irregular intervals).

Implantable device 104 can include a queue management component 204 thatmanages queuing (e.g., buffering) and/or discarding of data fortransmission 312 in implantable devices. Queue management component 204can include deadline component 206, which can be configured to assignone or more deadlines to data for transmission from implantable device104. In some embodiments, queue management component 204 can includepriority component 208. Priority component 208 can be configured toassign one or more priorities to data for transmission from implantabledevice 104. It is to be appreciated that different data can havedifferent permutations of deadlines and priorities. For example,different data can have the same deadline but different priorities, thesame deadline and priority or the same priority but different deadlines.

As shown, queue management component 204 can also include datathrottling component 210, which can be configured to throttle data toincrease or decrease data being placed into the data management queue,which is shown and described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 3.In various embodiments, throttling data can include, but is not limitedto, adjusting the sampling rate of data, adjust one or more channels ofdata, or adjust types of data.

Queue management component 204 can also include packet arrivalestimation component 212, which can be configured to estimate an arrivaltime to external device 116 of data in data management queue (e.g., datamanagement queue 302 of FIG. 3).

Queue management component 204 can also include data removal component214. The data removal component 204 can be configured to remove datafrom data management queue (e.g., data management queue 302 of FIG. 3)that is estimated by packet arrival estimation component 212 to arriveat external device 116 after a deadline associated with the data. By wayof example, but not limitation, the deadline associated with the datacan be the latest acceptable time for the data to arrive at the externaldevice 116. Any number of other deadlines or manners of specifyingdeadlines are possible.

Queue management component 204 can also include data forwardingcomponent 216. The data forwarding component 204 can be configured tomonitor the packet transmission queue shown as packet transmission queue304 of FIG. 3 and, in response to a determination that a conditionrelative to the threshold associated with packet transmission queue 304is satisfied, forward data from the data management queue 302 to packettransmission queue 304.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 300 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data from an implantable device to an external device in accordancewith descriptions of systems 100 and 200 described herein. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed in figures described herein isomitted for sake of brevity.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, data for transmission 312 can be datafrom detection component 202 taken directly or derived from signal 222that is for transmission to external device 116. Detection component 202can supply the data for transmission 312 to data management queue 302and/or to queue management component 204 for placement into datamanagement queue 302. It is to be appreciated that, in variousembodiments, there can be other intermediary components that move databetween detection component 202 and queue management component 204.

While examples described depict a single data management queue 302 in animplantable device 104. It is to be appreciated that an implantabledevice 104 can employ a plurality of data management queues 302 thatsupply data to one or more packet transmission queues 304. In oneexample, there can be a data management queue 302 for each source ofdata, for each type of data, for each priority of data, or for eachtransmission destination of data, or any combinations thereof, or anyother suitable criteria for establishing a data management queue 302.The number of data management queues 302 can be static, for example,established by a manufacturer, a user of, or an administrator (e.g.,medical caregiver) of the implantable device 104 in some embodiments. Inother embodiments, the number of data management queues 302 can bedynamic, for example, based on the number of sources of data, the numberof types of data, the number of priorities of data, or the number oftransmission destinations of data, or any other suitable criteria forestablishing the number of data management queues 302.

Data management queue 302 can buffer DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e (where M is an integer 0 orgreater) from data for transmission 312 for forwarding to packettransmission queue 304. It is to be appreciated that DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e can includevarious types of data, have different sizes, and have different formats.For example, DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . .DATA_(M) 306 e can be segments of waveform data in some embodiments. Insome embodiments, DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d canbe segments of waveform data, while DATA_(M) 306 e can be associatedmarker data. In various embodiments, DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e can be any suitable data fortransmission from implantable device 104 to external device 116. DATA₁306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e canhave or be associated with timestamps, TS₁, TS₂, TS₃, TS₄, . . . ,TS_(M), respectively.

In some embodiments, data in transit 308 can be a selection of data fromdata management queue 302 designated to be forwarded by data forwardingcomponent 216 of FIG. 2 to packet transmission queue 304. Packettransmission queue 304 can buffer one or more packets of data (e.g.,PACKET₁ 310 a, PACKET₂ 310 b, PACKET₃ 310 c, PACKET₄ 310 d, . . .PACKET_(N) 310 e, where Nis an integer 0 or greater) for transmission toexternal device 116.

It is to be appreciated that in various embodiments, packet transmissionqueue 304 can be a conventional queue (e.g., BLE link layer) associatedwith a standard communication protocol (e.g., BLE), or a proprietarycommunication protocol while data management queue 302 can be anadditional queue added outside of the standard communication protocolthat can advantageously allow for avoiding or reducing the need tomodify standard communication protocol components (e.g., BLE networkstack layers) while achieving the benefits described herein. It is to befurther appreciated that data forwarding component 216 can also supplydata in transit 308 to communication component 218 for formatting and/orplacement in packet transmission queue 304.

It is also to be appreciated that data forwarding component 216 and/orcommunication component 218 can employ commands and/or programsassociated with standard communication protocol components (e.g., BLEnetwork stack layers) or proprietary communication protocols to formatand/or place data in transit 308 in packet transmission queue 304. Insome embodiments, standard communication protocol components (e.g., BLEnetwork stack layers) can manage transmission of one or more of packetsof data PACKET₁ 310 a, PACKET₂ 310 b, PACKET₃ 310 c, PACKET₄ 310 d, . .. PACKET_(N) 310 e to external device 116.

In some embodiments, data forwarding component 216 is configured todetermine if data management queue 302 contains data for transmission312. If data management queue 302 contains data for transmission 312,data forwarding component 216 can monitor (e.g., poll, read memorylocations associated with, make calls to components associated with)packet transmission queue 304 to determine a current size S (e.g.,amount of packets, amount of data, or any other suitable measure ofsize) of packet transmission queue 304. Data forwarding component 216can be configured to compare the size S of packet transmission queue 304to a threshold size TH. If the size S of packet transmission queue 304is determined to have a defined relationship to the threshold size TH(e.g., is determined to be less than or equal to TH, is determined tohave an amount of packets or an amount of data within a range of TH(within 3 packets of TH), or any suitable function of TH), dataforwarding component 216 can select one or more of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e from datamanagement queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmission queue 304.

It is to be appreciated that the threshold size TH can be defined basedon any number of sources and/or at any time (during use of theimplantable device 104, prior to initial use of the implantable device104 or the like). The threshold size can be defined based on programmingthe implantable device 104 with such information in some embodiments. Invarious embodiments, the threshold size can be defined by a manufacturerof implantable device 104, or by a user of or an administrator (e.g.,medical caregiver) for implantable device 104 or dynamically determinedby data forwarding component 216. As such, the threshold size definedcan change from time to time and/or based on one or more differentconditions.

In some embodiments, the threshold size TH is selected or determined toprevent packets of data from becoming stale while residing in packettransmission queue 304. For example, it can be known that for aparticular communication protocol each packet typically takes anexpected transmission time A milliseconds for transmission from packettransmission queue 304 under normal circumstances. Based upon knowledgeof A and a typical deadline D for data to be transmitted fromimplantable device 104, and an estimate of the amount of time T to reachexternal device 116 once a packet is transmitted, a threshold size THcan be determined according to a function. By way of example, in anon-limiting embodiment, threshold size TH can be equal to (T-D)/A. Itis to be appreciated that expected transmission time A can be determined(e.g., measured, calculated, estimated, inferred), for example, based ona real-time measurement of throughput using the particular communicationprotocol and/or communication network, a calculated function of amaximum throughput (e.g. theoretical or estimated) using the particularcommunication protocol and/or communication network, typical measuredthroughput determined via lab testing (e.g. under normal use orsimulated varying use conditions), or any other suitable basis fordetermining expected transmission time A.

In another embodiment, where transmission of packets in inconsistentsuch as due to interference resulting in re-transmissions of packets,data forwarding component 216 can monitor respective times for eachpacket (or for one or more packets) to be transmitted from packettransmission queue 304 and dynamically adjust A continually or atregular intervals for a period of time (e.g., a fixed period, while A isoutside of normal circumstances, or any other suitable period of time).

In another embodiment where deadlines are variable for different data indata management queue 302, data forwarding component 216 can dynamicallyadjust D continually or at regular intervals for a period of time basedupon the deadlines D₁, D₂, D₃, D₄, D_(M) of data in data managementqueue 302. It is to be appreciated that any suitable criteria forselecting or determining threshold size TH is encompassed herein.

Data forwarding component 216 can select one or more of DATA₁ 306 a,DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e from datamanagement queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmission queue 304according to any suitable characteristics of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b,DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e. For example, datamanagement queue 302 can be a first in first out (FIFO) queue and dataforwarding component 216 can select data in order from DATA₁ 306 a, toDATA_(M) 306 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding to packettransmission queue 304. In another embodiment, data forwarding component216 can employ respective deadlines and/or respective priorities (e.g.,as discussed in more detail below) of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e for selection of one or more ofDATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 efrom data management queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmissionqueue 304. It is to be appreciated that any suitable function of thecharacteristics of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, .. . DATA_(M) 306 e can be employed by data forwarding component 216 toselect one or more of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding topacket transmission queue 304.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, packet arrival estimation component 212 canbe configured to monitor data management queue 302 and determinerespective estimated arrival times E₁, E₂, E₃, E₄, . . . , E_(M) forDATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 ein data management queue 302 to external device 116. It is to beappreciated that packet arrival estimation component 212 can updaterespective estimated arrival times E₁, E₂, E₃, E₄, . . . E_(M)continually, or at defined or dynamically determined intervals. In someembodiments where DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, .. . DATA_(M) 306 e in data management queue 302 have the same deadlinesand are ordered FIFO according to timestamp TS_(i), where i is aninteger from 1 to M, packet arrival estimation component 212 candetermine an estimated arrival time E₁ for DATA₁ 306 a to represent E₂,E₃, E₄, . . . , E_(M), because if DATA₁ 306 a is stale, then DATA₂ 306b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e will also be stale.

Packet arrival estimation component 212 can estimate E₁, for example,based upon the size S of packet transmission queue 304. In anon-limiting embodiment, if size S is the amount of packets in packettransmission queue 304, then E₁ can equal the product of the size Smultiplied by the typical amount of A milliseconds for transmission of apacket summed with the amount of time T to reach external device 116once a packet is transmitted and the current time CT, E₁=CT+(S*A)+T.

In another embodiment, where DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c,DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA₄ 306 e have varied deadlines, packet arrivalestimation component 212 can determine respective estimated arrivaltimes E₁, E₂, E₃, E₄, for DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e. In a non-limiting embodiment, if size S isthe amount of packets in packet transmission queue 304 and R_(i) is thenumber of data ahead of DATA_(i), 306 a data management queue 302, wherei is an integer from 1 to M, then E_(i) can equal the product of the sumof size S and R_(i) multiplied by the typical amount of A millisecondsfor transmission of a packet summed with the amount of time T to reachexternal device 116 once a packet is transmitted and the current timeCT, E₁=CT+((S+R_(i))*A)+T.

It is to be appreciated that estimated arrival time E_(i) can bedetermined by packet arrival estimation component 212 using any suitablefunction. In some embodiments, A and T can be determined for each of(or, in some embodiments, one or more of) packets PACKET₁ 310 a, PACKET₂310 b, PACKET₃ 310 c, PACKET₄ 310 d, . . . PACKET_(N) 310 e and/or foreach of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . .DATA_(M) 306 e, such as based on different sizes of data, differentrecipient external devices, or any other suitable criteria.

Data removal component 214 can be configured to monitor data managementqueue 302 and determine one or more of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e from data management queue 302that is estimated to be stale when received by external device 116. Forexample, data removal component 214 can compare estimated arrival timeE_(i), with a latest arrival time G_(i) at external device 116 forDATA_(i). If E_(i) is later than G_(i), then data removal component 214can remove DATA_(i) from data management queue 302 to mitigate staledata from being transmitted to external device 116.

In a non-limiting embodiment, each (or, in some embodiments, one ormore) of DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . .DATA_(M) 306 e employ a common deadline D amount of time added totimestamp TS_(i) in order to determine latest arrive time G_(i) in whichDATA_(i) should arrive at external device 116, and be ordered FIFOaccording to TS_(i). In this non-limiting embodiment, latest arrivaltime G_(i) can be determined according to G_(i)=TS_(i)+D. However, G_(i)can be determined according to any suitable function.

Given that DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . .DATA₄ 306 e can employ a common deadline D and are ordered FIFO byTS_(i), DATA₁ 306 a can act as a proxy for DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c,DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e. If data removal component 214determines that E₁ is later than G₁, data removal component 214 canremove DATA₁ 306 a, DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . .DATA_(M) 306 e from data management queue 302 as they will all haveE_(i), later than G_(i).

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 400 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data from an implantable device to an external device in accordancewith descriptions of systems 100, 200, and 300 described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in figures describedherein is omitted for sake of brevity. DATA₁ 506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅506 c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e correspond to DATA₁ 306 a,DATA₂ 306 b, DATA₃ 306 c, DATA₄ 306 d, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e of FIG. 3respectively adding deadlines D₁, D₂, D₃, D₄, . . . , D_(M), which canhave the same or different values.

In some embodiments, deadline component 206 can assign the same ordifferent deadlines to different data based on any number of factorsincluding, but not limited to, the type of data, the type of implantabledevice 104, the medical condition associated with the data, whether anemergency or non-emergency situation is detected with the patientassociated with the implantable device 104, a status of the implantabledevice 104 (e.g., normal operation, abnormal operation, diagnosticoperation, failure mode, alerting mode, low battery, or any othersuitable status of the implantable device 104), the type of body inwhich the implantable device 104 is implanted, the type of externaldevice 116 receiving the data, a type of environment in which externaldevice 116 is located (e.g., physician's office, home, emergency room,operating room, ambulance, hospital, or any other suitable location),how the data will be used by external device 116 (e.g., presentation ona real-time display, storage in a patient record, triggering an alert,or any other suitable usage), a specification from external device 116,or any other suitable factors for assigning deadlines to data fortransmission.

For example, an implantable device 104 for cardiac related functions canproduce waveform data and marker data. Deadline component 206 can assigna first deadline to waveform data and a second deadline to marker data.In another non-limiting embodiment, an implantable device 104 thatcontains a variety of functions (e.g., cardiac, diabetic, oxygen, andany other suitable functions) can produce a variety of types of data,such as waveform, marker, blood-oxygen, pulse, blood pressure, andglucose data. Deadline component 206 can assign one or more of the typesof data a different deadline. In another non-limiting embodiment, thesame type of data can be assigned a different deadline based on theenvironment in which external device 116 that will receive the data islocated. For example, blood-oxygen data being transmitted to externaldevice 116 in a physician's office can be assigned a first deadline,while blood-oxygen data being transmitted to external device 116 in anemergency room can be assigned a second deadline. It is to beappreciated that deadline component 206 can assign deadlines to datausing any suitable criteria and/or function.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 4, data removal component 214 isconfigured to monitor data management queue 302 and determine one ormore of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂ 406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . .DATA_(M) 406 e from data management queue 302 that is estimated to bestale when received by external device 116. In some embodiments, each(or, in some embodiments, one or more) of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂ 406 b,DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . . , DATA_(M) 406 e can have deadlines D₁,D₂, D₃, D₄, . . . , D_(M), respectively. In this non-limitingembodiment, latest arrival time G_(i) can be determined according toG_(i)=TS_(i)+D_(i). However, in other embodiments, G_(i) can bedetermined according to any suitable function. If data removal component214 determines that E_(i) is later than G_(i), data removal component214 can remove DATA_(i) from data management queue 302.

Data forwarding component 216 can select one or more of DATA₁ 406 a,DATA₂ 406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e from datamanagement queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmission queue 304according to any suitable characteristics of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂ 406 b,DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e. For example, datamanagement queue 302 can be a FIFO queue and data forwarding component216 can select data in order from DATA₁ 406 a, to DATA_(M) 406 e fromdata management queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmission queue304.

In some embodiments, data forwarding component 216 can employ a functionof respective deadlines D₁, D₂, D₃, D₄, . . . D_(M) for selection of oneor more of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂ 406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . .DATA_(M) 406 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding to packettransmission queue 304. For example, data forwarding component 216 canselect DATA_(i) that has a smallest positive value of the result of thelatest arrival time G_(i) minus the expected arrival time E_(i) forforwarding to packet transmission queue 304. It is to be appreciatedthat any suitable function of the characteristics of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e can be employed toselect one or more of DATA₁ 406 a, DATA₂ 406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406d, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding topacket transmission queue 304.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 500 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data from an implantable device to an external device in accordancewith descriptions of systems 100, 200, 300, and 400 described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in figures describedherein is omitted for sake of brevity. DATA₁ 506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅506 c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e correspond to DATA₁ 406 a,DATA₂ 406 b, DATA₃ 406 c, DATA₄ 406 d, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e of FIG. 3respectively adding priorities P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, . . . , P_(M), which canhave the same or different values. Priority component 208 can assign thesame or different priorities to different types of data based on anynumber of factors including, but not limited to, the type of data, thetype of implantable device 104, the medical condition associated withthe data, whether an emergency or non-emergency situation is detectedwith the patient associated with the implantable device 104, a status ofthe implantable device 104 (e.g., normal operation, abnormal operation,diagnostic operation, failure mode, alerting mode, low battery, or anyother suitable status of the implantable device 104), the type of bodywith which the implantable device 104 is associated, the type ofexternal device 116 receiving the data, a type of environment in whichexternal device 116 is located (e.g., physician's office, home,emergency room, operating room, ambulance, hospital, or any othersuitable location), how the data will be used by external device 116(e.g., presentation on a real-time display, storage in a patient record,triggering an alert, or any other suitable usage), a specification fromexternal device 116, or any other suitable mechanism for assigningpriorities to data. For example, an implantable device 104 for diabeticrelated functions can produce glucose data and insulin data. Prioritycomponent 208 can assign a first priority to glucose data and a secondpriority to insulin data.

In another non-limiting embodiment, an implantable device 104 thatcontains a variety of functions (e.g., cardiac, diabetic, oxygen, andany other suitable functions) can produce a variety of types of data,such as waveform, marker, blood-oxygen, pulse, blood pressure, andglucose data. Priority component 208 can assign one or more of thedifferent types of data a different priority. In another non-limitingembodiment, the same type of data can be assigned a different prioritybased on the usage of the data in external device 116. For example,waveform data being transmitted to external device 116 for storage in apatient record can be assigned a first priority, while waveform databeing transmitted to external device 116 during surgery can be assigneda second priority. It is to be appreciated that priority component 208can assign priorities to data using any suitable criteria and/orfunction. It is to be appreciated that priorities P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, . . ., P_(M) can be distinct from deadlines D₁, D₂, D₃, D₄, . . . , D_(M) andcan employ different functions for determining their values. Forexample, the same type of data can have the same deadline but differentpriorities based on characteristics associated with the data. In someembodiments, the same type of data can have the same priority butdifferent deadlines based on characteristics associated with the data.In another embodiment, the different types of data can have the samedeadlines but different priorities based on characteristics associatedwith the data. In some embodiments, the different types of data can havethe same priority but different deadlines based upon characteristicsassociated with the data.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 5, data forwarding component 216 canselect one or more of DATA₁ 506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅ 506 c, DATA₄ 506d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding topacket transmission queue 304 according to any suitable characteristicsof DATA₁ 506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅ 506 c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M)506 e. For example, data management queue 302 can be a FIFO queue anddata forwarding component 216 can select data in order from DATA₁ 506 a,to DATA_(M) 506 e from data management queue 302 for forwarding topacket transmission queue 304.

In some embodiments, data forwarding component 216 can employ a functionof respective deadlines D₁, D₂, D₃, D₄, . . . , D_(M) and/or prioritiesP₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, . . . , P_(M) for selection of one or more of DATA₁ 506a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅ 506 c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e from datamanagement queue 302 for forwarding to packet transmission queue 304.For example, data forwarding component 216 can select DATA_(i), that hasa highest weight W_(i) as function of P_(i) and the result of E_(i),minus G_(i) for forwarding to packet transmission queue 304.

In a non-limiting embodiment, if two data have an equivalent smallestpositive value result of G_(i) minus E_(i), then DATA_(i) with a higherP_(i) can be selected. In another non-limiting embodiment, if two datahave an equivalent highest priority P_(i), then DATA_(i) with a smallerpositive value result of G_(i) minus E_(i) can be selected. It is to beappreciated that any suitable function of the characteristics of DATA₁506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅ 506 c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e canbe employed to select one or more of DATA₁ 506 a, DATA₂ 506 b, DATA₅ 506c, DATA₄ 506 d, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e from data management queue 302 forforwarding to packet transmission queue 304.

As noted with reference to FIG. 2, data throttling component 210 can beconfigured to monitor data management queue 302 to control throttling(e.g., adjust sampling rate of data, adjust channels of data, or adjusttypes of data) to increase or decrease data for transmission 312 forplacement into data management queue 302 based upon throttling criteria.In some embodiments, data throttling component 210 can monitor a size Qof data management queue 302 and in response to throttling criteria suchas the size Q of data management queue 302 exceeding a threshold queuesize TQ, instruct (e.g., issue a signal to) detection component 202 toreduce an amount of data for transmission 312, such as by reducing asampling rate of data, reducing channels of data, or reducing types ofdata being including in data for transmission 312.

In some embodiments, data throttling component 210 can monitor databeing removed from data management queue 302 by data removal component214 and identify throttling criteria such as characteristics of theremoved data (e.g., type of data, source of data, size of data, or anyother suitable characteristics the data). In some embodiments, datathrottling component 210 can perform the identification on a continualbasis or when an amount of data being removed exceeds one or moreremoval thresholds.

Data throttling component 210 can instruct detection component 202 toreduce an amount of data for transmission 312 based upon the identifiedcharacteristics, such as by reducing a sampling rate of data with theidentified characteristics, reducing channels of data associated withthe identified characteristics, or reducing data with the identifiedcharacteristics from being including in data for transmission 312. Forexample, if a particular type of data is being removed, then datathrottling component 210 can instruct detection component 202 to reducea sampling rate of the type of data, reducing one or more channelsassociated with the type of data, or stop including the type of data inthe data for transmission 312. It is to be appreciated that datathrottling component 210 can also increase data for transmission 312,for example, if conditions that initiated a reduction of data fortransmission 312 no longer exist.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 600 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data from an implantable device to an external device in accordancewith descriptions of systems 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 describedherein. Repetitive description of like elements employed in figuresdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity. DATA₁ 606 a, . . .DATA_(M) 606 e correspond to DATA₁ 506 a, . . . DATA_(M) 506 e, or DATA₁406 a, . . . DATA_(M) 406 e, or DATA₁ 306 a, . . . DATA_(M) 306 e. Inthis embodiment, data for transmission 312 includes waveform data 602,marker data 604, and interrogation data 608 (e.g., associated with acardiac implantable device). In a non-limiting embodiment, if datathrottling component 210 determines that one or more of waveform data602, marker data 604 or interrogation data 608 are being removed by dataremoval component 214, data throttling component 210 can instructdetection component 202 to eliminate one or more of waveform data 602,marker data 604, or interrogation data 608 from the data fortransmission 312, or reduce a sampling rate of waveform data 602 and/ormarker data 604.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 700 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data (e.g., real-time data and/or stored data) from an implantabledevice to an external device in accordance with descriptions of systems100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 described herein. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed in figures described herein isomitted for sake of brevity. In this embodiment, data for transmission312 includes waveform data 602, marker data 604, and interrogation data608 (e.g., associated with a cardiac implantable device).

Waveform data 602 can include channel data CHANNEL₁DATA 702 a,CHANNEL₂DATA 702 b, CHANNEL_(U)DATA 702 c, . . . CHANNEL₁DATA 702 d,where U is a positive integer. In a non-limiting embodiment, if datathrottling component 210 determines that one or more of waveform data602, marker data 604 or interrogation data 608 are being removed by dataremoval component 214, data throttling component 210 can instructdetection component 202 to eliminate one or more of waveform data 602,CHANNEL₁DATA 702 a, CHANNEL₂DATA 702 b, CHANNEL₃DATA 702 c,CHANNEL_(u)DATA 702 d, interrogation data 608, or marker data 604 fromthe data for transmission 312, or reduce a sampling rate of waveformdata 602, CHANNEL₁DATA 702 a, CHANNEL₂DATA 702 b, CHANNEL₃DATA 702 c,CHANNEL_(U)DATA 702 d, marker data 604 and/or interrogation data 608.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting medical devicetelemetry system 800 configured to facilitate management of transmissionof data (e.g., sensed data and/or stored data) from an implantabledevice to an external device in accordance with descriptions of systems100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 described herein. In this embodiment,data for transmission 312 includes waveform data 602, interrogation data608, and marker data 604 (e.g., associated with a cardiac implantabledevice). In this embodiment, data for transmission 312 is depicted inwhich data throttling component 210 has instructed detection component202 to eliminate waveform data 602 and interrogation data 608 in favorof supplying marker data 604 in the data for transmission 312.

FIGS. 9-14 illustrate flow diagrams of example, non-limiting methodsfacilitating mitigation of transmission of stale data in accordance withone or more embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, themethods can facilitate management of transmission of data from animplantable device (e.g., implantable device 104) to an external device(e.g., external device 116) in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, themethodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, the disclosedsubject matter is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts canoccur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from thatshown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art willunderstand and appreciate that a methodology can alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated statuses or events, such as in astate diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required toimplement a methodology in accordance with the disclosed subject matter.Additionally, it is to be appreciated that the methodologies disclosedin this disclosure are capable of being stored on an article ofmanufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring suchmethodologies to computers or other computing devices.

Referring now to FIG. 9, shown is a flow diagram of an example method900 configured to monitor a packet transmission queue 304 and, based ona threshold associated with the packet transmission queue 304 beingsatisfied, forward data from a data management queue 302 to the packettransmission queue 304 by an implantable device in accordance with oneembodiment. At 910, a determination is made whether there is data fortransmission in data management queue 302 (e.g., by a data forwardingcomponent 216, a queue management component 204, or an implantabledevice 104). If a determination has been made that there is no data fortransmission in data management queue 302, the method proceeds to 910.If a determination has been made that there is data for transmission indata management queue 302, the method proceeds to 920. At 920, a size ofpacket transmission queue 304 is determined (e.g., by a data forwardingcomponent 216, a queue management component 204, or an implantabledevice 104). At 930, a determination is made whether the size of packettransmission queue 304 is within threshold size TH (e.g., by a dataforwarding component 216, a queue management component 204, or animplantable device 104). If a determination has been made that the sizeof packet transmission queue 304 is not within threshold size TH, themethod proceeds to 910. If a determination has been made that the sizeof packet transmission queue 304 is within threshold size TH, the methodproceeds to 940. At 940, some data from data management queue 302 isforwarded to packet transmission queue 304 (e.g., by a data forwardingcomponent 216, a queue management component 204, or an implantabledevice 104). The method can optionally proceed to 910. For example, themethod may not proceed to 910 if the implantable device is no longer incommunication with external device 116.

Referring now to FIG. 10, shown is a flow diagram of an example method1000 configured to remove stale data from data management queue 302 byan implantable device in accordance with one embodiment. At 1010, adetermination is made whether there is data for transmission in datamanagement queue 302 (e.g., by a data removal component 214, a queuemanagement component 204, or an implantable device 104). If adetermination has been made that there is no data for transmission indata management queue 302, the method proceeds to 1010. If adetermination has been made that there is data for transmission in datamanagement queue 302, the method proceeds to 1020. At 1020, adetermination is made whether there is data in data management queue 302that has an expected arrival time E later than a latest arrival time Gfor the data (e.g., by a data removal component 214, a queue managementcomponent 204, or an implantable device 104). If a determination hasbeen made that there is no data in data management queue 302 that has anexpected arrival time E later than a latest arrival time G for the data,the method proceeds to 1010. If a determination has been made that thereis data in data management queue 302 that has an expected arrival time Elater than a latest arrival time G for the data, the method proceeds to1030. At 1030, the data in data management queue 302 that has anexpected arrival time E later than a latest arrival time G is removedfrom data management queue 302 (e.g., by a data removal component 214, aqueue management component 204, or an implantable device 104). Themethod can optionally proceed to 1010. For example, the method may notproceed to 1010 if the implantable device is no longer in communicationwith external device 116.

Referring now to FIG. 11, shown is a flow diagram of an example method1100 configured to assign deadlines to data in the data for transmission312 by an implantable device in accordance with one embodiment. At 1110,characteristics associated with data in the data for transmission 312are determined (e.g., by a deadline component 206, a queue managementcomponent 204, or an implantable device 104). At 1120, a deadline D isdetermined for the data in the data for transmission 312 based on thecharacteristics associated with the data (e.g., by a deadline component206, a queue management component 204, or an implantable device 104). At1130, the deadline D is assigned to the data in the data fortransmission 312 (e.g., by a deadline component 206, a queue managementcomponent 204, or an implantable device 104).

Referring now to FIG. 12, shown is a flow diagram of an example method1100 configured to assign priorities to data in the data fortransmission 312 by an implantable device in accordance with oneembodiment. At 1210, characteristics associated with a data in the datafor transmission 312 are determined (e.g., by a priority component 208,a queue management component 204, or an implantable device 104). At1220, a priority P is determined for the data in the data fortransmission 312 based upon the characteristics associated with the data(e.g., by a priority component 208, a queue management component 204, oran implantable device 104). At 1230, the priority P is assigned to thedata in the data for transmission 312 (e.g., by a priority component208, a queue management component 204, or an implantable device 104).

Referring now to FIG. 13, shown is a flow diagram of an example method1300 configured to determine estimated arrival times for data in datamanagement queue 302 by an implantable device in accordance with oneembodiment. At 1310, a determination is made whether there is data fortransmission in data management queue 302 (e.g., by a packet arrivalestimation component 212, a queue management component 204, or animplantable device 104). If a determination has been made that there isno data for transmission in data management queue 302, the methodproceeds to 1310. If a determination has been made that there is datafor transmission in data management queue 302, the method proceeds to1320. At 1320, estimated arrival times E for the data in data managementqueue 302 is determined (e.g., by a packet arrival estimation component212, a queue management component 204, or an implantable device 104).The method can optionally proceed to 1310. For example, the method maynot proceed to 1310 if the implantable device is no longer incommunication with external device 116.

Referring now to FIG. 14, shown is a flow diagram of an example method1400 configured to throttle data for transmission 312 by an implantabledevice in accordance with one embodiment. At 1410, a determination ismade whether there is data for transmission in data management queue 302(e.g., by a data throttling component 210, a queue management component204, or an implantable device 104). If a determination has been madethat there is no data for transmission in data management queue 302, themethod proceeds to 1410. If a determination has been made that there isdata for transmission in data management queue 302, the method proceedsto 1420. At 1420, a determination is made whether throttling criteriafor data management queue 302 has been met (e.g., by a data throttlingcomponent 210, a queue management component 204, or an implantabledevice 104). If a determination has been made that throttling criteriafor data management queue 302 has not been met, the method proceeds to1410. If a determination has been made that throttling criteria for datamanagement queue 302 has been met, the method proceeds to 1430. At 1430,data in transmission being supplied to data management queue 302 isthrottled, such as, in a non-limiting embodiment, based on a function ofthe throttling criteria (e.g., by a detection component 202, a datathrottling component 210, a queue management component 204, or animplantable device 104). The method can optionally proceed to 1410. Forexample, the method may not proceed to 1410 if the implantable device isno longer in communication with external device 116.

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting medicaltelemetry system facilitating management of data by an implantabledevice to a first external device and a second external device tomitigate transmission of stale data in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein. Although not shown, as with system 100, itis to be appreciated that the implantable device 104 is implanted within(or provided on) a body of a living being. For exemplary purposes,system 1500 is described with the assumption that the implantable device104 is implanted within (or provided on) a human being. In someembodiments, the implantable device 104 can be implanted within (orprovided on) an animal.

System 1500 includes one or more of the structure, features and/orfunctionality of components of FIGS. 1-8 with the addition of variouscomponents included in the respective devices of system 1500 thatfacilitate the various implementations of system 1500. In accordancewith system 1500, external device 116 and implantable device 104 caninclude one or more of the same or similar components, structure,features and/or functionality as previously described with respect toFIGS. 1-8. Second external device 1502 can include one or more of thestructure, features and functionalities of external device 116.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

In some embodiments, implantable device 104 can transmit (e.g.,concurrently or during non-overlapping time periods) data to bothexternal device 116 and second external device 1502. Furthermore,implantable device 104 can employ distinctive criteria or mechanisms tothrottle or assign various deadlines and priorities to respective datafor transmission to external device 116 and second external device 1502based upon respective characteristics (e.g., the type of external device116, a type of environment in which external device 116 is located(e.g., physician's office, home, emergency room, operating room,ambulance, hospital, or any other suitable location), a specificationfrom external device 116) of external device 116 and second externaldevice 1502. Implantable device 104 can also employ distinctive criteriaor mechanisms for removing respective data for transmission to externaldevice 116 and second external device 1502 from data management queue302 or forwarding respective data for transmission to external device116 and second external device 1502 to packet transmission queue 304.

In addition, external device 116 and/or second external device 1502 cancommunicate all or a portion of data received from implantable device104 directly or after transformation to server device 1504 for furtherprocessing or storage. It is to be appreciated that external device 116and/or second external device 1502 can be an access point that relaysdata received from implantable device 104 to server device 1504. Forexample, in a situation in which remote evaluation of a patient isrequired, external device 116 can function as an access point thatrelays data received from implantable device 104 to server device 1504located at a remote location from body 102 (e.g., patient is at home anddoctor is at hospital, patient is in physician's office and needspecialist consult from a different physician's office, or any othersuitable situation where body 102 is physically remote from serverdevice 1504).

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limitingimplantable device configured to mitigate transmission of stale data inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Theimplantable device 104 includes detection component 202, queuemanagement component 204, and communication component 218. Implantabledevice 104 also includes a transceiver 1608, a timer 1610 and a powersource 1612. Aspects of the systems, apparatuses or processes explainedin this disclosure can constitute machine-executable component(s)embodied within machine(s), e.g., embodied in one or more computerreadable mediums (or media) associated with one or more machines. Suchcomponent(s), when executed by the one or more machines, e.g.,computer(s), computing device(s), virtual machine(s), etc. can cause themachine(s) to perform the operations described.

Implantable device 104 can include memory 1614 for storing computerexecutable components and instructions. Implantable device 104 canfurther include a processor 1616 to facilitate operation of theinstructions (e.g., computer executable components and instructions) byimplantable device 104. Implantable device 104 can include a bus 1618that couples the various components of the implantable device 104,including, but not limited to, detection component 202, queue managementcomponent 204, communication component 218, transceiver 1608, timer1610, power source 1612, processor 1616 and/or memory 1614. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed in other examples described hereinis omitted for sake of brevity.

FIG. 17 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting externaldevice (e.g., external device 116) in accordance with one or moreexamples described herein. External device 116 includes communicationcomponent 220. External device 116 also includes a transceiver 1706, adisplay 1708, a power source 1412, and an input device 1714. Aspects ofthe systems, apparatuses or processes explained in this disclosure canconstitute machine-executable component(s) embodied within machine(s),e.g., embodied in one or more computer readable mediums (or media)associated with one or more machines. Such component(s), when executedby the one or more machines, e.g., computer(s), computing device(s),virtual machine(s), etc. can cause the machine(s) to perform theoperations described.

External device 116 can include memory 1702 for storing computerexecutable components and instructions. External device 116 can furtherinclude a processor 1712 to facilitate operation of the instructions(e.g., computer executable components and instructions) by externaldevice 116. External device 116 can include a bus 1704 that couples thevarious components of the implantable device 104, including, but notlimited to, communication component 220, transceiver 1706, display 1708,power source 1712, input device 1714, processor 1712 and/or memory 1702.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other figuresdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a computer operable to facilitatetelemetry with or via an implantable device to mitigate transmission ofstale data in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.For example, in some embodiments, the computer can be or be includedwithin implantable device 104, external device 116 and/or server device1404. Repetitive description of like elements employed in figuresdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

In order to provide additional context for one or more embodimentsdescribed herein, FIG. 18 and the following discussion are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment1800 in which the one or more embodiments described herein can beimplemented.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data. Tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readablestorage media can include, but are not limited to, random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compactdisk read only memory (CD ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD) or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage, other magnetic storage devices and/or other media that can beused to store desired information. Computer-readable storage media canbe accessed by one or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., viaaccess requests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for avariety of operations with respect to the information stored by themedium.

In this regard, the term “tangible” herein as applied to storage,memory, computer-readable media or computer-readable storage media, isto be understood to exclude only propagating intangible signals per seas a modifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standard storage,memory, computer-readable media or computer-readable storage media thatare not only propagating intangible signals per se.

In this regard, the term “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage,memory, computer-readable media or computer-readable storage media, isto be understood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per seas a modifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standard storage,memory, computer-readable media or computer-readable storage media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a channelwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of the data signal's characteristicsset or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediainclude wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection,and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wirelessmedia.

With reference again to FIG. 18, example environment 1800 that can beemployed to implement one or more embodiments of the embodimentsdescribed herein includes computer 1802. Computer 1802 includesprocessing unit 1804, system memory 1806 and system bus 1808. System bus1808 couples system components including, but not limited to, systemmemory 1806 to processing unit 1804. Processing unit 1804 can be any ofvarious commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors andother multi processor architectures can also be employed as processingunit 1804.

System bus 1808 can be any of several types of bus structure that canfurther interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. System memory 1806 includesRAM 1810 and ROM 1812. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be storedin a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within computer 1802, such asduring startup. RAM 1810 can also include a high-speed RAM such asstatic RAM for caching data.

Computer 1802 further includes internal hard disk drive (HDD) 1814(e.g., Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE), Serial AdvancedTechnology Attachment (SATA)). HDD 1814 can be connected to system bus1808 by hard disk drive interface 1816. The drives and their associatedcomputer-readable storage media provide nonvolatile storage of data,data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. Forcomputer 1802, the drives and storage media accommodate the storage ofany data in a suitable digital format.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1810,including operating system 1836, one or more application programs 1838,other program modules 1840 and program data 1842. All or portions of theoperating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also be cachedin RAM 1810. The systems and methods described herein can be implementedutilizing various commercially available operating systems orcombinations of operating systems.

A mobile device can enter commands and information into computer 1802through one or more wireless input devices, e.g., wireless keyboard 1828and a pointing device, such as wireless mouse 1830. Other input devices(not shown) can include a smart phone, tablet, laptop, wand, wearabledevice or the like. These and other input devices are often connected tothe processing unit 1804 through input device interface 1818 that can becoupled to system bus 1808, but can be connected by other interfaces,such as a parallel port, an IEEE serial port, a game port and/or auniversal serial bus (USB) port.

Computer 1802 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as remote computer(s) 1832. Remote computer(s)1832 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personalcomputer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1802, although, for purposes of brevity, only memory/storage device 1834is illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wired/wirelessconnectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1826 and/or larger networks,e.g., WAN 1824, as well as smaller PANs involving a few devices (e.g.,at least two). LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace inthe home, offices (e.g., medical facility offices, hospital offices) andcompanies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such asintranets, all of which can connect to a global communications network(e.g., the Internet).

When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 1802 can beconnected to local network through a wired and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adapter 1820. Adapter 1820 can facilitate wired orwireless communication to LAN 1826, which can also include a wirelessaccess point (AP) connected to the LAN 1826 for communicating withadapter 1820.

When used in a WAN networking environment, computer 1802 can includemodem 1822 or can be connected to a communications server on WAN 1824 orhas other means for establishing communications over WAN 1824, such asby way of the Internet. Modem 1822, which can be internal or externaland a wired or wireless device, can be connected to system bus 1808 viainput device interface 1818. In a networked environment, program modulesdepicted relative to computer 1802 or portions thereof, can be stored ina remote memory/storage device. It will be appreciated that the networkconnections shown are example and other means of establishing acommunications link between the computers can be used.

Computer 1802 can be operable to communicate with any wireless devicesor entities operatively disposed in wireless communication via anynumber of protocols, including, but not limited to, NFC, Wi-Fi and/orBLUETOOTH® wireless protocols. Thus, the communication can be a definedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices.

NFC can allow point-to-point connection to an NFC-enabled device in theNFC field of an IMD within the home or at any location. NFC technologycan be facilitated using an NFC-enabled smart phone, tablet or otherdevice that can be brought within 3-4 centimeters of an implanted NFCcomponent. NFC typically provides a maximum data rate of 424 kilobitsper second (Kbps), although data rates can range from 6.67 Kbps to 828Kbps. NFC typically operates at the frequency of 13.56 megahertz (MHz).NFC technology communication is typically over a range not exceeding 0.2meters (m) and setup time can be less than 0.1 seconds. Low power (e.g.,11 milliamperes (mAs)) reading of data can be performed by an NFCdevice.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out.Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n,etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Finetwork can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet,and to wired networks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Finetworks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11Mbps (802.11a) or 54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example or withproducts that contain both bands (dual band), so the networks canprovide real-world performance similar to the basic 11BaseT wiredEthernet networks used in many offices.

The embodiments of devices described herein can employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. The embodiments (e.g., in connection withautomatically identifying acquired cell sites that provide a maximumvalue/benefit after addition to an existing communication network) canemploy various AI-based schemes for carrying out one or more embodimentsthereof. Moreover, the classifier can be employed to determine a rankingor priority of each cell site of an acquired network. A classifier is afunction that maps an input attribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), toa confidence that the input belongs to a class, that is,f(x)=confidence(class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticand/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to prognose or infer an action that a mobile devicedesires to be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) isan example of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates byfinding a hypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which thehypersurface attempts to split the triggering criteria from thenon-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachesinclude, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statisticalregression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing mobiledevice behavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to a predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device including, but not limited to,single-core processors; single-processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors; multi-core processors withsoftware multithread execution capability; multi-core processors withhardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; and parallelplatforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor canrefer to an integrated circuit, an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), a complexprogrammable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of mobile device equipment. Aprocessor can also be implemented as a combination of computingprocessing units.

Memory disclosed herein can include volatile memory or nonvolatilememory or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include ROM,programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory caninclude RAM, which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustrationand not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory (e.g., data storages, databases)of the embodiments is intended to include, without being limited to,these and any other suitable types of memory.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” “database,” andsubstantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components includingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word “example” or “exemplary” is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform. The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims and description, unless otherwise clear by context, is forclarity only and doesn't necessarily indicate or imply any order intime.

What has been described above includes mere examples of one or moreembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe detailed description and the appended claims. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “includes” is used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: communication circuitryconfigured to transmit one or more packets to one or more other deviceson a communication network; a packet transmission queue that stores theone or more packets for transmission on the communication network; adata management queue that stores data items for submission to thepacket transmission queue; and processing circuitry configured to, forat least one of the data items stored in the data management queue:determine an expected arrival time of the data item to another device,determine that the expected arrival time exceeds a latest arrival timeassociated with the data item, and based on the determination that theexpected arrival time exceeds the latest arrival time, remove the dataitem from the data management queue such that the data item is notsubmitted to the packet transmission queue and not transmitted on thecommunication network.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to: determine a size of the packet transmissionqueue; and in response to a determination that the size of the packettransmission queue has a defined relationship to a threshold size,forward another data item of the data items from the data managementqueue to the packet transmission queue.
 3. The device of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to throttle dataitems being placed in the data management queue based on a throttlingcriterion, wherein to throttle the data items the processing circuitryat least one of: reduces a sampling rate, reduces channels of data, orreduces types of data items for transmission.
 4. The device of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the expectedarrival time of the data item to the other device based on a size of thepacket transmission queue.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to determine the expected arrivaltime of the data item to the other device based on a number ofadditional data items of the data items that are ahead of the data itemin the data management queue.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein thelatest arrival time is based on at least one of: a characteristicassociated with the device, a characteristic associated with the otherdevice, a type of data associated with the data item, or a status of thedevice.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the data management queue is afirst in first out queue.
 8. The device of claim 1, further comprisingone or more additional data management queues respectively configured tostore the data items for submission to the packet transmission queue fortransmission as the one or more packets on the communication network tothe one or more other devices.
 9. A method comprising: providing dataitems in a data management queue for buffering prior to submission to apacket transmission queue for transmission as one or more packets on acommunication network to one or more other devices; determining anexpected arrival time of a data item to another device of the data itemsstored in the data management queue; determining that the expectedarrival time is after a defined maximum acceptable arrival timeassociated with the data item; and based on the determination that theexpected arrival time is after the defined maximum acceptable arrivaltime, removing the data item form the data management queue such thatthe data item is not submitted to the packet transmission queue and nottransmitted on the communication network.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising: determining a size of the packet transmission queue;and supplying another data item from the data management queue to thepacket transmission queue, wherein the supplying is based on adetermination that the size of the packet transmission queue is within adefined range of a threshold size.
 11. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising reducing a rate of transferring the data items to the datamanagement queue based on a determination that a size of the datamanagement queue exceeds a threshold queue size, wherein the rate oftransferring is reduced by at least one of: reducing a sampling rate,reducing channels, or reducing types of data items included.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising selecting the other data itembased on a priority associated with the other data item.
 13. The methodof claim 9, further comprising estimating the expected arrival time ofthe data item to the other device based on an expected transmission timeper packet of the one or more packets in the packet transmission queue.14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executableinstructions that, in response to execution, cause a device comprisingat least one processor to perform operations comprising: monitoring dataitems stored in a data management queue prior to submission of the dataitems to a packet transmission queue for transmission as one or morepackets on a communication network to one or more other devices;determining an expected arrival time of a data item to another device ofthe data items stored in the data management queue; determining that theexpected arrival time is after a defined latest arrival time for thedata item; and based on the determination that the expected arrival timeis after the defined latest arrival time for the data item, removing thedata item from the data management queue such that the data item is notsubmitted to the packet transmission queue and not transmitted on thecommunication network.
 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim14, wherein the operations further comprise: estimating a size of thepacket transmission queue; and transferring another data item from thedata management queue to the packet transmission queue based on anestimation that the size of the packet transmission queue is less than athreshold size.
 16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14,wherein the operations further comprise reducing a rate of transferringthe data items to the data management queue based on a determinationthat a size of the data management queue exceeds a threshold queue size,wherein the rate of transferring is reduced by at least one of: reducingsampling rate, reducing channels, or reducing types of data itemsincluded.
 17. A system comprising: a sensor; and processing circuitryconfigured to: detect a signal from the sensor; supply a data item ofdata items and corresponding to the signal to a data management queuefor transmission to another device; determine an expected arrival timeof a data item to another device of the data items stored in the datamanagement queue; determine that the expected arrival time exceeds anacceptable latest arrival time associated with the data item and alsoassociated with a deadline for the data item; and remove the data itemfrom the data management queue such that the data item is not submittedto a packet transmission queue and not transmitted to a communicationnetwork based on the determination that the expected arrival timeexceeds the acceptable latest arrival time associated with the data itemand also associated with the deadline for the data item.
 18. The systemof claim 17, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured tothrottle the supply of the data items to the data management queue basedon removal of the data from the data management queue.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein, to throttle the supply of the data items, theprocessing circuitry is configured to at least one of: reduce a samplingrate, reduce channels of data, or reduce types of data items fortransmission.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the data itemscomprise marker data and waveform data, and wherein, to throttle thesupply of the data items, the processing circuitry is configured toremove waveform data from the data items to reduce a number of the dataitems to be supplied to the data management queue.